Marquez’ save of the century: sliding at 153km/h

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) need not have attacked for the lead in the #FinalShowdown at Valencia, but 2017 MotoGP™ World Champion did, of course, explaining it’s not really in his DNA to let the chance of a win get away from him. So he attacked, he took the lead – and he thought Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) was on the verge of hitting back into Turn 1. That made him really push the limits on the brakes – and that, in turn, made him really push the limits of gravity, giving us the save of the season.

So what does Marquez say about the moment? He thought he’d avoided it: “When I got to the corner I saw that I had entered too fast, but I thought ‘I’ll brake it and I’ll go in’. But then, ‘boom!’ I supported my weight with my elbow! I used my elbow and knee as a level, and I think that with the help of the fans, I got the bike back up.”

He did, and took a quick trip through the gravel - "people tell me motocross training is dangerous, but..." before rejoining the track. Now, some data from that jaw-dropping moment has been released, and it makes for incredible reading…

30m: Quite how worried Marquez was about Zarco – one of the most aggressive on the grid – overtaking him into Turn 1 is shown in how late the number 93 left it to brake, dropping anchor an incredible 30 metres later than he had done previously

50m: It passed in what seemed like the miraculous blink of an eye, but the front wheel of Marquez’ Repsol Honda slid a staggering 50 metres as he slammed his knee and elbow down to save it

64°: The lean angle the rider from Cervera reached on the way to getting it back upright before the gravel trap

153km/h: The speed Marquez was going into Turn 1…

Let’s watch that again…